lamppost | changlix ✔

cuarenta y seis

"so," strained felix as he stretched his limber arms behind his back with a quiet grunt. the room was a lot less rowdy than the australian was accustomed to.

it was strange to him - felix had never been in the practice room without either of his performance partners before. he couldn't decide whether his confidence had been boosted by the absence of the talented dancers or damaged by the lack of feedback he'd be receiving on his possibly sloppy movements. as much as he joked that he couldn't stand the pair when they were all together, felix genuinely enjoyed their company and greatly valued their input. now that he was in the studio without the support of his peers, he felt nervous. all he wanted was to perform well, and he was doubtful he could without his cohorts by his side.

felix caught himself in the midst of his thoughts, recognising the terrible pattern prone to triggering downward spirals. he quickly grounded himself as he knew that encouraging sporadic thinking was only going to make staying on task harder. there was no need to create extra challenges for himself.

bringing himself out of his head, felix watched changbin expectantly as he stood idly, still as a statue, doing nothing to stretch his muscles. he displayed a playful look of disappointment, fully aware that the shorter intended on sitting on his ass doing nothing as the taller worked himself to the bone for hours.

"what?" changbin questioned, cocking a brow at the younger who's eyes had been piercing through him like a million tiny needles.

"stretch, binnie," felix ordered, "you're not going home today without dancing. i didn't bring you here just to watch."

"oh, really? and what if i want to watch?" the older boy stubbornly folded his arms as a smug grin tugged at the corners of his stupid lips. while the younger generally found changbin's flirtatious comments amusing and enticing, he had a lot to get done and he didn't want to be wasting precious time on coquetry.

"if you don't stretch your damn muscles on your own, i will march over there myself and wring you like a towel," threatened the younger. with that, the older chuckled, finally cooperating with the australian. he couldn't take any of the younger's threats seriously. in all honesty, changbin could never feel at risk in felix's presence. he reminded the raven haired male too much of a harmless baby animal to convince him that he could violate the safety of his person. if anything, he felt safer with him than he did without him.

"you do know how to dance, right? i don't want to push your body past its limits today," felix questioned, cringing at the thought of changbin leaving the studio with an injury - a direct contrast to his previous words. changbin occupied a large fragment of felix's heart, and though he knew the older wasn't made of glass, he also wasn't invincible and he hated to imagine his skin becoming blemished with bruises. it was in the boy's nature to hold stewardship over the people he cherished the most.

felix's portrayal of concern over changbin only solidified the shorter's opinion of the australian. it didn't matter how loud he barked or how tough he acted - changbin knew that felix was nothing but a soft-hearted baby on the inside.

"i did a lot of dance in high school. don't worry about that," assured changbin as he held his left arm in the tight constraint of his right elbow across his chest. felix's eyes, regretfully so, dwelled on the area far longer than anyone would consider reasonable. the thin grey tee adorning the raven haired boy's defined torso left nothing to the imagination - yet felix's still appeared to be working in all the wrong ways. while the younger was anything but bothered by the other's form-fitted clothes, it made remaining composed an impossible task. the way the fabric hugged his silhouette, strangely, was nearly enough to provoke felix's possessive side. he wasn't sure where his descent into madness began and where it ended, but the moment he became jealous of a piece of material because it had the audacity to "touch" his man like that set off a few flares in his head.